Page 132 of Out of the Storm

“I know,” Gary choked out, tears falling. “Gosh, Mom, I knowthat now.”

“Last night, when I heard the tornado was up this way, I thought I’d lost you. But then...” By the way her voice cracked, Gary could tell she had started crying too. “Oh God, I realized that maybe I’d lost you before that. Because of how I’d lied. I lied for so many years.”

Her voice was filled with so many things—shame and regret and sadness. Gary pulled back to look at her and wiped away some of her tears, smearing some of her liquid foundation on his fingers in the process.

“Do you hate me?” she asked quietly.

“No,” Gary said. “I could never.”

It wasn’t enough. But it was enough for now.

He hugged her again.

“Uncle Gary?”

Hearing the voice of his niece, Amy, Gary released his mom and looked toward the slightly fuzzy figures still standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey,” he said, taking hold of the railing and starting down the stairs carefully so he wouldn’t take a tumble. “I missed you two.”

“Can we have something to eat?” Joey asked.

Gary smiled. Leave it to kids to interrupt a heartfelt family moment to inquire about food.

“Is cereal okay? No milk because of the power being out, though.”

“What kind?” Amy asked.

“Uhm, the sugary kind?” Gary said.

He couldn’t really remember what brands he had, but he’d never been one to buy what he still considered “old people cereal,” even if hewasover thirty.

Without so much as a thank you, the two kids pushed past him to head into the house. Gary chuckled. He started up the stairs too, and then Dawn and his mom followed him inside. When they hadabout reached the kitchen, Gary saw a now-very-familiar blurry blob emerge from the bedroom.

“Hey,” Jeff said, his voice still kind of rough from sleep.

“Um, my family is here,” Gary said as he reached up to rub the back of his neck.

He heard Jeff chuckle. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Oh. Right.”

Jeff stayed several feet back, probably because he wasn’t sure how close he was allowed to be. Determined not to keep hiding from his family, Gary walked over to him, his own smile widening as Jeff’s cute face came into focus, and placed his hands on Jeff’s hips. After a brief moment of hesitation, Jeff’s hands found Gary’s hips too.

“Hi,” Gary said. “Will it weird you out if I kiss you in front of them?”

“Uh, yeah, probably, but”—Jeff smiled a little wider—“I still want you to. If you think they’ll be okay with it. With us.”

Without hesitation, Gary leaned in and brushed their lips together, capturing Jeff’s mouth in a short, sweet kiss. Afterward, he braced himself for some reaction, some comment or something, but no one seemed perturbed. Not that Gary could see their faces very well. But, hey, no one was throwing tomatoes, so it seemed like their kiss had been received okay.

Gary slipped his hand into Jeff’s, and the two of them headed into the kitchen, where the kids were sitting at the table eating cereal. Dawn stepped up to them, and her hand came to settle on Gary’s shoulder.

“Is this your boyfriend?” she asked.

“Yup.” Gary cleared his throat. “Um... is that—”

“Gare, hun,” his mom cut in, “I nearly lost you once. If you think me finding out that you have a boyfriend will have me riskinglosing youagain, you’re... well, you’re something not very nice, so I won’t say it.”

“Stupid,” Dawn offered. “I think that’s what she was trying to say, oh brother of mine.”

---